Association of Landscapes and Memorials of the Great War

Association of Landscapes and Memorials of the Great War

(Headquarter : 1 Rue de Brissac, 75004 Paris)

Drapeau-France

I/ A FEDERATION OF FRONT DEPARTMENTS

Established on July 12, 2011, the association “Landscapes and Memorials of the Great War” federates the French Departments of the Western Front (Western Theater of the Great War) except Bas – Rhin to apply for inscribing in the list of UNESCO Heritage Sites as the “Funerary Sites and Memorials of the First World War”. The association is regulated by the law of July 1, 1901 and the decree of August 18, 1901. Initially, composed of 9 Department Members by right, it now counts 13 Departments: Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Oise, Aisne, Seine et Marne, Ardennes, Marne, Meuse, Moselle, Meurthe et Moselle, Vosges, Haut-Rhin. It covers entire French part of the Western Front of the Great War as well.

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Missions

The mission is to cooperate with Flandre and Wallonie and carry out its application procedure of transnational project to inscribe in “Funerary Sites and Memorials of the First World War, West Front”. The association is responsible for accompanying and monitoring the application.

Calendar of the application file presented in France by the Association Landscapes and Memorial Sites of the Great War

Calendar of application: :

  • 1ère Step 1 : Drafting application file

– July 12, 2011: Creation of the association “Landscapes and Memorials of the Great War”

– April 7, 2014: Inscription in the French Tentative List: Funerary Sites and Memorials of the First World War, West Front.

– January 30, 2017: Signature and deposit of nomination file to the World Heritage Center by Belgium on behalf of itself and on behalf of France.

  • Step 2: Assure the follow – up of the nomination until it is inscribed on the World Heritage List 2017/2018

Some important dates (Some key dates)

  • March 1, 2017: The World Heritage Center informs the French authorities about the formal completeness of the application document and about its submission to ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites)
  • May – June 2017: Progressive implementation of the ICOMOS technical mission of evaluation of the property
  • September – October 2017: Field mission by experts
  • December 2017: First evaluation by the ICOMOS panel
  • March 2018 : Second panel: Presentation of the revised evaluations and drafting the final evaluation non-communicated to the State.
  • Mai 2018: Transmission to the French authorities of the ICOMOS recommendation to the World Heritage Committee about the nomination: inscription, return, deferred, non-inscription
  • June – July 2018: World Heritage Committee (undetermined address) : Examination of Funerary Sites and Memorials of the Great War (West Front) for inscription on the list of World Heritage Sites.

The association assure the general coordination and follow – up for the French territory of the Franco – Belgian transnational application project, based on the network of departmental coordinators.

To this end, it assures by representing in all different territorial scales.

II/ A REPRESENTATION AT ALL TERRITORIAL SCALES

A – Composition of Bureau (Office):

> The political representatives of Departmental Councils:

1) Les représentants politiques des Conseils départementaux 

  • Claude Léonard, Président du Conseil départemental de la Meuse, co-président
  • Laurent Somon, Président du Conseil départemental de la Somme, co-président
  • François Rampelberg, 7ème Vice-président du Conseil départemental de l’Aisne
  • Christian Bruyen, Président du Conseil départemental de la Marne
  • Bernadette Groff , Vice-Présidente du Conseil départemental du Haut-Rhin
  • Nathalie Delbart, Vice-présidente du Conseil départemental du Pas-de-Calais
  • Jean Godard, Vice-Président du Conseil départemental des Ardennes
  • Béatrice Descamps-Plouvier, 4ème Vice-présidente du Conseil départemental du Nord
  • Olivier Morin, Conseil départemental de la Seine-et-Marne
  • Denis Jacquart, Conseil départemental de la Moselle
  • Gilles Sellier, Conseil départemental de l’Oise
  • William Mathis, Conseil départemental des Vosges
  • Mathieu Klein, Président du Conseil départemental de Meurthe-et-Moselle

2) The representatives of Necropolis Management Services

  • Carole Novy, directrice administrative pour la France, représentante du VDK SESMA en France
  • Sarah Camerlynck, Conservation supervisor, CWGC
  • John Desrosiers, Ministère des Anciens Combattants Canadien
  • Thapedi Massanabo, Afrique du Sud
  • Arnaldo Minuti, délégué permanent italien
  • Pedro Branco Baptista, attaché défense Portugal
  • Liliane Chanson, Ministère de la Défense
  • Philippe Esprit, ONACVG
  • Michel Hadj, Le Souvenir Français
  • Christine Landrum, Director of Collections & Preservation, ABMC

3) The representatives of Missions or partner associations

  • Alain Artisson, Mission Histoire du Conseil Départemental de la Meuse
  • Jacques Lambert, Association Terre Ardennaise
  • Jean Klinkert, Hartmannswillerkopf
  • Guy Valembois, Tourisme et Mémoire de la Grande Guerre

4) The representatives of the partner authorities

  • Luc VANDAEL, Agence du Patrimoine de Flandre
  • Gislaine DEVILLERS, Département du Patrimoine de la Région Wallonne

5) The representatives of Scientific Committee

  • Stéphane Tison
  • Annette Becker

6) The representatives of Departmental Coordinators

  • Veronique Hoop
  • Nadia Kabbach
  • Chloe Arquevaux
  • Robert Schoumacker

7) The Animators of the associations

  • Jean-Paul Vinchelin, vice – president, mayor of Neuves – Maisons, appointed by the Meurthe-et-Moselle Department Council, Treasurer
  • Marie-Madeleine Damien, Professor Emeritus, University of Lille I, Secretary-General and Coordinator
  • Henri Schwindt, statutory auditor, president of the association for the safeguarding of the battlefield of Verdun, auditor
  • Serge Barcellini, General Controller of the Armed Forces, Vice-President

B- Executive Board

> Composition of Executive Board :

  • Claude Léonard, Co-President,
  • Serge Barcellini, Vice-President,
  • Guy Valembois, Deputy General Secretary,
  • Marie-Madeleine Damien, General Secretary,
  • Jean-Paul Vinchelin, Treasurer,
  • Alain Artisson, Assistant Treasurer,
  • Véronique Hoop, Member

The Bureau of the Association acts as a Board of Directors. It is composed of Executive Board and the Bureau itself. They meet at least once every two months, minimum 6 meetings a year. The Executive Board manages and examines the problems occurred between plenary meetings of the Bureau.

III/ ON THE DEPARTMENTAL SCALE: THE DEPARTMENTAL COMMITEES AND FIELD WORK

A- 1. The coordinators and their role

Each Department Council agree to meet and to animate Departmental Committees of the project of UNESCO Nomination Project. The departmental coordinator is responsible for overseeing of the right functioning of the committee, advising regional and local authorities in the implementation of actions, protection, conservation, awareness of the UVE (Universal Value of Exception) of all publics and dissemination of knowledge.

  • Mereau Mathilde, Departement of Nord,
  • Hermant Marina, Pas-de-Calais,
  • Dournel Floriel, Somme,
  • Kabbach Nadia, Oise,
  • Hubert Nathalie, Seine et Marne
  • Verkindt Etienne, Aisne,
  • Brun Olivier, Ardennes,
  • Lesjean Frank, Marne,
  • Arquevaux Chloe, Meuse,
  • Schoumacker Robert, Moselle,
  • Hecre Emannuel, Meurthe et Moselle,
  • Berthelier Nadine,Vosges,
  • Celine Vanaverbeck, Haut-Rhin

> Missions :

  • – Unite the local actors involved in the project: local authorities (municipalities and communities of communes), decentralized bodies of the State (DRAC and DREAL), local property managers and other bodies present in the territory of department (academic inspection, struggling historical associations…).
  • – Bring together all these different actors at least once a year in order to prepare the implementation of the local management plan and to plan field-actions along with four major axes :
  1. To protect,
  2. To conserve,
  3. To know and make known and know,
  4. To valorize.
  • – Participate in the meetings of National Inter-Departmental Committee by inscribing in one or more proposed working committee :
  1. To protect,
  2. To conserve,
  3. To know and make known and know,
  4. To valorize.
  • – Participate in the preparation and the animation of the National Conference.

B- The coordination of field work and follow-up of nomination file

Mrs Damien Marie – Madeleine (perso.damien@wanadoo.fr,;  06 86 99 96 03),  coordinates all the missions related to the nomination file and the follow-up of the application procedures: writing the final application project in coordination with the scientific committee, following-up of technical aspects, accompanying experts, supervising departmental coordinators. She is responsible for monitoring the partnership of associations at all territorial levels and collaborating with the association’s external parties and management of headquarter in agreement with the General Secretary.

C- The participation of external parties in the specific project components

Michel COTTE, MCC (Middelburgsche Commercie Compagnie) Heritage, Cabinet council

Expert of World Heritage, he has served as an expert of ICOMOS International for the technical and industrial heritages (civil engineering, industrial heritage, hydraulic systems…), adviser for the implementation of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention since 2006 and Spokesperson of the ICOMOS on the World Heritage Committee since 2008.
Head of cabinet MCC Heritage, he assures a monitoring and advisory missions of our entire project since 2013.

Michel LE MOIGNE, Cartography

Michel LE MOIGNE, independent cartographer, graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de Géographie Cartographie at Institute of Geography of Paris I in 1973.
He creates the cartographic atlas of the candidature project of the French territory and the Franco-Belgian transnational territory of the Western Front and the atlas of the protection.